AE Mission , Quick Easy & Fun Part 1

Write down more ideas than you need and use the best ones. When you look over your ideas you might decide that Sewer Trial the Musical was not as good as you thought. Use your A material with your B material to build up to it.

How to vary spawns

I create custom groups for the villains group I am using. One group is all minions. Another group is all LTs. If I want something brutal I create all boss groups. By putting these groups into my missions I can make fights easier and tougher. The Villain group remix will allow my adventure to have different fights with the same NPC group which keeps things interesting
. I do not use the default group option on my maps because even if they change levels the fights are the same.

How to vary objectives to make things interesting.

I am experimenting with using music to create adventures. Think of an adventure like a song. As the song goes on I want the music to get louder. The music changes so we are not bored. So I am going to use the pattern of music to keep my adventure moving.

The Lion Sleeps tonight chords are GCGDGCGD. I am going to use the same pacing as a song to vary my objectives. For my test adventure I used the following:
G Chord = Freakshow Boss
C Chord = NPC Boss
D Chord = Unique Boss

Even though I am using the same objectives the fights are different and keep things interesting. Remember how I made those extra NPC groups from weak to hard? As I repeat fights I go from easy to tough groups by switching up the NPC mobs

GCGDGCGD now becomes
Easy Freak/Easy NPC/Easy Freak/Easy Unique/Medium Freak/Medium NPC/Medium Freak/Medium Unique. This builds up my adventure towards its conclusion.

How can I get lots of ideas for NPCs

NPC Name Ideas

1) Incorporate Zones Names into build up NPCs. For my Freak bosses I used the neighborhood names to customize them like Gimry Ridge Gabby
2) Find interesting collections of phrases. For example Programming Magic Numbers will give you good Freakshow names like CAFEBABE, Magic Cookie and CAFEDOOD
3) Use the pronunciation of words as the name for characters like Speshuhl for Special

Creating the Best and Worst Test Alts

If you have an open slot create a melee mastermind or some other really bad combination. For a melee Mastermind you will take the pet powers and instead of ranged attacks use the melee attacks and melee defences from the additional power set.

The reason you want a Mastermind is that defeated pets trigger the defeat dialogue more often in testing. By creating a weenie alt you will be able to fine tune your mission for how challenging the mission is. If the Weenie alt breeezes through the mission then you know to add some more oomph.

Using a good alt helps you set the upper limit for difficulty. You want to make sure that the mission is not impossible but not boring.

I have to travel several hundred miles this weekend to take care of elderly kinfolk but before I leave here are a few more tips...

1) When you are looking for new enemy groups try other cultures during different time periods.

British/Irish gangs from the 1900s included the Penny Mobs, Ribbon Men, Caravats (wore ties), Shanavests (wore vests) and Scuttlers . I can use those names to create my own gangs for my nefarious purposes

2) Create different level versions of your good missions

I have a level 20 and level 35 version of my graveyard rumble. I use the weaker power combinations for my custom bosses in the level 20. I have some tougher customer bosses in the Level 35

3) Create multiple threads of adventure on large maps

I have a large brawl being fought on the graveyard map. Originally I set it up as A1-A2-A3....A22 . The pacing sucked and you spent more time searching than playing. I reworked the triggers as three sets of linked triggers

Fight A1-A7
Fights B1-B7
Fight C1-C7

When I did this it allowed me to keep my storytelling by having fights in sequence with clues. It also gave the players more action because the map has 3 objectives active at the same time.

Putting Life into Identical NPCs

Give your minor NPCs a simple mood or behavior and put it into their speech. A simple way to find useful materials is by browing therapy and mentoring sites.

I have 10 Freakshow that are completely identical in powers and appearance. But they will act diffently to the player.

One is Bossy
Two is Domineering
Three is Ambitious
Four is Curious
Five is Creepy
Six is Vengeful
Seven is a Perfectionist
Eight is Manic
Nine is Deceitful
Ten is a weirdo babbling Bob Dylan style rhyming in a 1212 1112 pattern where the 2 beats rhyme

Hand Gun Crime Fun $target better run
Big Fight Hero Fright $target gonna smite
Good Guy Gonna Fry Gotta make your fans cry

Not that you ever wanted to learn but now you can babble like Bob Dylan...